GOTHAMIST has the scoop on Pier 55 this week!

A crumbling old Hudson River pier once used by ocean liners like the Lusitania will be torn down and replaced by a 2.7 acre park on the water featuring rolling hills and an outdoor amphitheater. Mayor de Blasio is expected to reveal further details about the park at a press conference this morning, but the Hudson River Park Trust has revealed that the park will be largely financed by a foundation formed by the billionaire couple Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg.

“New York has always reminded me of Venice, so I am happy the time has come to properly honor its waterways,” Diane von Furstenberg said in a statement. “What better than a park on the city’s western bank to rest, watch a sunset or a performance?” The talented producer Scott Rudin, theater directors George Wolfe and Stephen Daldry, and British theater executive Kate Horton will oversee the performance spaces, with Diller pledging to fund cultural events there for 20 years.

Read more and see all the cool pictures!

***UPDATE  2015 –  THIS IS  GOING TO HAPPEN! The project has won unanimous approval from the Hudson River Park Trust on Wednesday and is moving forward!  The next step in Pier55’s development is for the developers to apply for permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Construction is expected to begin in 2016.